Google renews Injaz ties with new $1 million grant for digital skills training program in Arabic

DUBAI: Google is awarding another $1 million grant to Injaz for the non-profit group’s effort to boost digital skills training program in Arabic, and reach a further 100,000 people in 2020.

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Google launched in 2018 the Maharat min Google, an Arabic digital skills program, which has reached more than 500,000 young people, women and underprivileged students in the Middle East and North African region through a $1 million grant.

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About 130,000 of those who participated were able to find jobs, grow their careers and their businesses, a statement said.

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Google likewise made a series of announcements for its products, including updated features on Google Search, the launch of Google Assistant in 15 new countries and a new safety feature on Maps.

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Google Assistant will now be available in Arabic and understand local dialects in 15 Arab countries: the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Mauritania.

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Google Map’s Stay Safe mode meanwhile is a feature that gives users an ‘off-route alert’ when a driver has deviated from the suggested route by more than 500 meters, with an option to share live trip update with friends and family.

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In Egypt, the Motorcyle mode will motorcyclists navigate traffic and avoid congested routes.

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“Every day, people in the Middle East and North Africa turn to Google for help, to get things done and to learn new things. Over the years, we’ve improved how our products work for in Arabic, whether that was on Search, Assistant, Maps or YouTube. We are committed to making our products more helpful to people in the Middle East and North Africa,” Lino Cattaruzzi, Managing Director for Google in the Middle East and North Africa, said in the statement.